German submarine ''U-125'' was a
Type IXC U-boat
U-boats were naval submarines operated by Germany, particularly in the First and Second World Wars. Although at times they were efficient fleet weapons against enemy naval warships, they were most effectively used in an economic warfare ro ...
of
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...
's ''
Kriegsmarine'' during
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
. She was
laid down
Laying the keel or laying down is the formal recognition of the start of a ship's construction. It is often marked with a ceremony attended by dignitaries from the shipbuilding company and the ultimate owners of the ship.
Keel laying is one o ...
at the
DeSchiMAG
Deutsche Schiff- und Maschinenbau Aktiengesellschaft (abbreviated Deschimag) was a cooperation of eight German shipyards in the period 1926 to 1945. The leading company was the shipyard AG Weser in Bremen.
History
The Deschimag was founded in 1 ...
AG Weser
Aktien-Gesellschaft „Weser" (abbreviated A.G. „Weser”) was one of the major German shipbuilding companies, located at the Weser River in Bremen. Founded in 1872 it was finally closed in 1983. All together, A.G. „Weser" built about 1,400 ...
as yard number 988 on 10 May 1940,
launched on 10 December and
commissioned on 3 March 1941. In seven patrols, she sank 17 ships for a total of . The boat was a member of three
wolfpacks. She was sunk on 6 May 1943. All 54 men on board died.
Design
German Type IXC submarines were slightly larger than the original
Type IXBs. ''U-125'' had a displacement of when at the surface and while submerged. The U-boat had a total length of , a
pressure hull
A submarine hull has two major components, the ''light hull'' and the ''pressure hull''. The light hull (''casing'' in British usage) of a submarine is the outer non-watertight hull which provides a hydrodynamically efficient shape. The pressure ...
length of , a
beam of , a height of , and a
draught of . The submarine was powered by two
MAN
A man is an adult male human. Prior to adulthood, a male human is referred to as a boy (a male child or adolescent). Like most other male mammals, a man's genome usually inherits an X chromosome from the mother and a Y chromo ...
M 9 V 40/46
supercharged four-stroke, nine-cylinder
diesel engine
The diesel engine, named after Rudolf Diesel, is an internal combustion engine in which ignition of the fuel is caused by the elevated temperature of the air in the cylinder due to mechanical compression; thus, the diesel engine is a so-ca ...
s producing a total of for use while surfaced, two
Siemens-Schuckert
Siemens-Schuckert (or Siemens-Schuckertwerke) was a German electrical engineering company headquartered in Berlin, Erlangen and Nuremberg that was incorporated into the Siemens AG in 1966.
Siemens Schuckert was founded in 1903 when Siemens & H ...
2 GU 345/34
double-acting electric motors producing a total of for use while submerged. She had two shafts and two
propellers. The boat was capable of operating at depths of up to .
The submarine had a maximum surface speed of and a maximum submerged speed of . When submerged, the boat could operate for at ; when surfaced, she could travel at . ''U-125'' was fitted with six
torpedo tube
A torpedo tube is a cylindrical device for launching torpedoes.
There are two main types of torpedo tube: underwater tubes fitted to submarines and some surface ships, and deck-mounted units (also referred to as torpedo launchers) installed aboa ...
s (four fitted at the bow and two at the stern), 22
torpedo
A modern torpedo is an underwater ranged weapon launched above or below the water surface, self-propelled towards a target, and with an explosive warhead designed to detonate either on contact with or in proximity to the target. Historically, s ...
es, one
SK C/32 naval gun, 180 rounds, and a
SK C/30 as well as a
C/30 anti-aircraft gun. The boat had a
complement
A complement is something that completes something else.
Complement may refer specifically to:
The arts
* Complement (music), an interval that, when added to another, spans an octave
** Aggregate complementation, the separation of pitch-clas ...
of forty-eight.
Service history
First and second patrols
''U-125'' departed
Kiel
Kiel () is the capital and most populous city in the northern German state of Schleswig-Holstein, with a population of 246,243 (2021).
Kiel lies approximately north of Hamburg. Due to its geographic location in the southeast of the Jutland ...
on 15 July 1941 on her first patrol, under the command of ''
Kapitänleutnant
''Kapitänleutnant'', short: KptLt/in lists: KL, ( en, captain lieutenant) is an officer grade of the captains' military hierarchy group () of the German Bundeswehr. The rank is rated OF-2 in NATO, and equivalent to Hauptmann in the Heer an ...
''
Günter Kuhnke
Günter Kuhnke (7 September 1912 – 11 October 1990) was a German submarine commander during World War II and later a Konteradmiral with the Bundesmarine, West Germany's navy. He was a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross of Nazi Ger ...
, arriving in the recently captured French Atlantic port of
Lorient
Lorient (; ) is a town ('' commune'') and seaport in the Morbihan department of Brittany in western France.
History
Prehistory and classical antiquity
Beginning around 3000 BC, settlements in the area of Lorient are attested by the presen ...
fourteen days later. Her route took her along the Norwegian coast, through the
gap separating the
Faroe and
Shetland Islands and into the Atlantic Ocean.
Her second patrol took her down the coast of West Africa, then through the Atlantic and back to her home-port without making any attacks. She ranged far and wide, heading for Brazil and back to Africa, toward
Sierra Leone
Sierra Leone,)]. officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country on the southwest coast of West Africa. It is bordered by Liberia to the southeast and Guinea surrounds the northern half of the nation. Covering a total area of , Sierr ...
and
Liberia.
Third patrol
''U-125'' had her first success on her third patrol, under her new commander ''
Kapitänleutnant
''Kapitänleutnant'', short: KptLt/in lists: KL, ( en, captain lieutenant) is an officer grade of the captains' military hierarchy group () of the German Bundeswehr. The rank is rated OF-2 in NATO, and equivalent to Hauptmann in the Heer an ...
''
Ulrich Folkers, sinking the American merchant ship ''West Ivis'' off
Cape Hatteras
Cape Hatteras is a cape located at a pronounced bend in Hatteras Island, one of the barrier islands of North Carolina.
Long stretches of beach, sand dunes, marshes, and maritime forests create a unique environment where wind and waves shap ...
, North Carolina on 26 January 1942. The ship broke in two and went down after 14 minutes. The crew of 36 and the nine
Armed Guards (the ship was armed with a 4-inch (100mm) gun, four .50 cal. and four .30 cal.
machine gun
A machine gun is a fully automatic, rifled autoloading firearm designed for sustained direct fire with rifle cartridges. Other automatic firearms such as automatic shotguns and automatic rifles (including assault rifles and battle rifles) ar ...
s) were lost.
Fourth patrol
''U-125'' sailed on her fourth and most successful patrol from Lorient on 4 April 1942. She made her first attack on the 23rd, sinking the American merchant ship , about south-east of
Bermuda
)
, anthem = "God Save the King"
, song_type = National song
, song = "Hail to Bermuda"
, image_map =
, map_caption =
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, subdivision_type = Sovereign state
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. Between 3 – 18 May, she sank a further eight merchant ships, in the
Caribbean, south of Cuba, returning to her home port on 13 June. One victim, ''Calgarolite'', was hit by two
torpedo
A modern torpedo is an underwater ranged weapon launched above or below the water surface, self-propelled towards a target, and with an explosive warhead designed to detonate either on contact with or in proximity to the target. Historically, s ...
es but despite settling, did not sink. The boat's AA guns were used to shoot holes in the hull. Following the demise of ''Camayagua'', a US Navy aircraft unsuccessfully searched for the U-boat; then flew to
Georgetown where it dropped a note in the Commissioner's garden with information on the survivors.
Fifth and sixth patrols
''U-125''s next patrol, the fifth, beginning on 27 July 1942, took her to the coast of West Africa, where she sank six merchant ships between 1 September and 8 October, returning to Lorient on 6 November 1942. Following the sinking of ''Baron Ogilvy'' on 29 September, the survivors sighted a small convoy on 1 October and succeeded in attracting their attention with flares. Unfortunately, one of them ignited in the Chief Officer's hand, causing severe burns.
The ''Glendene'' went to the bottom 90 seconds after being hit. Despite this rapidity, 38 of the 43-man crew survived the sinking.
''U-125'' sailed on her sixth patrol on 9 December 1942, out into the central Atlantic, south-west of the
Azores
)
, motto =( en, "Rather die free than subjected in peace")
, anthem= ( en, "Anthem of the Azores")
, image_map=Locator_map_of_Azores_in_EU.svg
, map_alt=Location of the Azores within the European Union
, map_caption=Location of the Azores wi ...
, but she made no attacks before returning to Lorient on 19 February 1943.
Seventh patrol and loss
''U-125'' left Lorient for the last time on her seventh patrol on 13 April 1943. She joined the "wolfpack" "Fink" (English: ''Finch'') of 28 U-boats which were attacking the
convoy ONS-5 between 26 April and 6 May 1943. This was during a period when the
British code-breakers were unable to read German U-boat signals while they could read British convoy signals, and ONS-5 was intercepted by a strong U-boat force during an Atlantic storm. Nevertheless, the boat only sank one ship, on 4 May south of
Cape Farewell (Greenland), she was perhaps ironically called ''Lorient'', a straggler from ONS-5; there were no survivors.
ONS-5 was a 43-ship convoy, nine miles wide by two long, with one destroyer, one frigate, three corvettes and two rescue tugs to defend it. It was attacked by around thirty U-boats, and lost thirteen ships in total, while seven U-boats were sunk by the escorts and supporting aircraft. It was a particularly bloody battle which marked the turning point in the
Battle of the Atlantic, showing that while determined mass attack by U-boats could break through convoy defences, this would prove too expensive a tactic to make U-boat warfare a winning strategy for Germany. Admiral
Karl Dönitz lost his son in this battle.
Fate
At 03:00 on 6 May 1943 ''U-125'' was located by radar in thick fog, rammed by and disabled, she was unable to dive. At 03:54 the U-boat was sighted by the Flower-class corvettes and , and as ''Snowflake'' manoeuvred to attack, closing to 100 yards, the crew of ''U-125'', realising their indefensible position, scuttled the boat. The captain of ''Snowflake'' signalled the Senior Officer Escort, Lieutenant Commander Robert Sherwood, proposing to pick them up, and received the response: "Not approved to pick up survivors." ''Snowflake'' and ''Sunflower'' thereupon resumed their positions around the convoy, while the crew of ''U-125'' died in the Atlantic over the next few hours.
Summary of raiding history
See also
*
List of successful U-boats
*
Black May (1943)
Black May refers to a period (May 1943) in the Battle of the Atlantic campaign during World War II, when the German U-boat arm (''U-Bootwaffe'') suffered high casualties with fewer Allied ships sunk; it is considered a turning point in the Batt ...
References
Bibliography
*
*
*
*
External links
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:U0125
German Type IX submarines
U-boats commissioned in 1941
U-boats sunk in 1943
World War II submarines of Germany
1940 ships
World War II shipwrecks in the Atlantic Ocean
Ships built in Bremen (state)
U-boats sunk by British warships
Ships lost with all hands
Maritime incidents in May 1943